One of the Ruby Princess cruise ship passengers who entered Australia while infected with the coronavirus has today died from the sickness.
Sky News can reveal the elderly woman, in her 70s, was one of the 50 passengers who have tested positive for the virus who were able to enter Sydney in a catastrophic health bungle.
She has become the 8th person in Australia to die from coronavirus.
Maritime Union of Australia Assistant Secretary Paul Garrett has previously slammed state and federal authorities for allowing the passengers to enter the country amid a state-wide shutdown.
Mr Garrett told Sky News Australia the Ruby Princess cruise ship “was allowed to dock under the cover of darkness, and now there’s multiple cases out there in the community which should have been quarantined”.
Mr Garrett said government officials needed to “get on board these ships and check them before they come in” rather than trusting cruise ship companies to declare if their passengers are unwell.
“They’re just relying on self-declaration of ships, that’s the standard the NSW government’s accepting and that’s an absolute disgrace,” he said.
“The ministers for health and port authorities need to stop any cruise ship from coming in until those on board have been checked.
“At the end of the day, we’re in a national crisis, an international health pandemic and we need the government to stand up and start leading on these issues.”
